A Comparative Stylistic Study Of Sanguo Yanyi And Its English Versions

Sanguo Yanyi, a classic historical romance, was the first Chinese novel with each chapter headed by a couplet giving the gist of its content. It describes the power struggles among the kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu, headed by Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Quan, respectively, in the period known to Chinese history as that of the Three Kingdoms. It highlights the sharp and complicated political and military conflicts of that time, and had a far-reaching influence on the political and military strategies of later ages. The comment "the language was not overly abstruse, nor was the wording overly vulgar" is generally agreed. It naturally integrates history with literature, combining both realism and romanticism.As a discipline mediating between linguistics and literary criticism, literary stylistics provides a new perspective for literary translation studies. It focuses on how an author makes use of linguistic choices to produce and enhance thematic and aesthetic effects of literary texts, and thus it can avoid subjective and intuitive interpretation of literary texts. Literary significance of a literary text lies in both the content and the form, and successful rendering of such literary texts depends on not only the faithfully conveyance of the original content, but also the recreation of the form. This thesis attempts to argue for the necessity and importance of introducing stylistics into translation studies with Sanguo Yanyi and its English versions as an example.This thesis consists of seven parts with the body of five chapters between an introduction and a conclusion.Chapter One gives an introduction to Sanguo Yanyi, including theme, authorship, compilation and creation, editions, transmission and translation and background of the study.Chapter Two serves as the theoretical foundation for this thesis, focusing on the definitions of style, stylistics and literary stylistics and expounding the necessity of introducing stylistics into literary translation.Chapter Three gives a comparative stylistic study of narratives in Sanguo Yanyi and its English versions with examples.Chapter Four gives a comparative stylistic study of dialogues in Sanguo Yanyi and its English versions with examples.Chapter Five gives a comparative stylistic study of chapter titles, practical writings and poems in Sanguo Yanyi and its English versions with examples.The conclusion sums up the whole thesis, and emphasizes the necessity and importance of introducing stylistics into translation studies.